LeBron James has progressed to “light work,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said on Monday, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN details. However, sources tell McMenamin that the star forward is still likely weeks away from playing again.
James hasn’t played since suffering a high-ankle sprain in a March 20 game. With less than a month left in the regular season, Vogel didn’t offer any prediction on when James might be available.
“Just trying to do a little bit more with his activity each day,” Vogel said.
The news is more encouraging on Anthony Davis, who may return this week after missing nearly nine weeks with a calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg. Davis put in some “good work” on Monday, according to Vogel, and will “build up” for a possible return Thursday night at Dallas. Vogel added that Davis is working his way back into playing shape and won’t get his usual allotment of minutes right away.
“The biggest thing is conditioning right now,” Vogel said. “He’s healthy. But having not played and not really being able to ramp up his physical on-court activity over the last two months, it’s going to take some time before he gets his wind under him and obviously, that’s the biggest thing. Because if his legs aren’t under him, we don’t want him to be at risk for re-aggravation of the injury or another injury. We want to keep a close eye on that.”
The Lakers have been able to stay in the Western Conference playoff race without their two stars, currently sitting in fifth place with a 35-23 record. They are 14-15 since Davis’ injury and 7-8 since James got hurt.
“I don’t think we’re there yet, to be honest,” Vogel said when asked if the worst is over for his team. “I know I’m not, my coaching staff is not. Even when Anthony returns, it’ll be in short, limited minutes … We’re still in a stretch where we’ve got to compete and win games for the most part without those guys.”
Every knows the lakers are just resting lebron and ad for postseason. Lakers brass must feel comfortable slipping in standings while giving them rest. The team has played decent without them and showed a lot of grit.
I think they’ve had some luck on their side too. I’ll take it.
And they will both be ready to go when the playoffs begin, no problem. By the time the WCF are underway both of them will be 100% and playing their usual 35-40 MPG.
Wait, what? Am I reading this right?
There’s this thing called sarcasm my friend, thought it was obvious.
What happens when your sarcasm turns to reality and we hoist another banner? I think at that point you should just stop torturing yourself and link up with us…there is always room in Laker Nation for a burnt out Rockets fan
9 weeks for a calf strain is definitely playing it safe
Remember that KD had a calf strain too
And Harden’s injury is also looking problematic.
It really seems like LeBron’s body is starting to fail him. He is 36 after all and has played a ton of minutes over his career.
The Lakers would be smart to manage his minutes during the upcoming regular seasons so that they can maximize the number of years he has left.
He is on the verge of becoming just the 7th player in NBA history to reach 50,000 minutes for his career, right behind Elvin Hayes and Jason Kidd. Then he should also pass KG and Dirk at some point next season putting him in third all-time behind Kareem and the Mailman.
Lebrons body isn’t failing him until he misses playoff games as a result of injury. Regular season games are meaningless for the Lakers.
All of those regular season games lost will cost them home-court advantage in any series, which actually makes a difference this year because they won’t have the luxury of playing in front of empty crowds in the bubble like they had last year. It’s ridiculous to think they will be just fine when the playoffs begin and have a chance of becoming just the second team in history to win a championship as a 5th seed or worse (the ’95 Rockets being the first, and only).
If I was a Lakers fan I would be concerned. If they are “resting” him it seems like they are pushing it too close to the playoffs for him to get back into game shape. If he has to hit the playoffs without getting 10 games or so in, he risks additional injury trying to ramp up to playoff intensity quickly.
I think April 30 th will be the date when they come back home-
That leaves 10 games left, but the problem is 4 B2B games in May probably leaves 6 reg season games at that point realistically
Time will only tell, but the Lakers are slipping in the standings. AD still has to come back and will need some games to get adjusted. LA is a losing streak away from being in the “play in” game. Let’s see what happens
Dallas is doing everything they can to make this an easier road than it should be-
If Lakers split these 2 games In Dallas they will have the 6+ seed pretty easily sewn up.
Just need 1 win in next 2 and Lakers can really slow play AD and LBJ just about as much as they want ROS for better or worse
Lakers are holding the 5th seed. Can Blazers overtake them ?? maybe. Lakers have an easy schedule left in April. Next month it gets tougher. Nuggets without Murray even as home team. Can go seven with Lakers in 1st rd. Lakers fall to 6th seed. They are not beating Clippers in 1st rd. All who think Lakers magically just turn it on in playoffs. This ain’t Disney and The little Mermaid. AD and Bron need to be in gm shape and in sync with team. That first rd series will be tough no matter who it is.
Arent Clippers in same boat tho? How often have they “all” played together?
IBakas been out forever, Rondos been Meh, I dont see much difference
I agree : outta Disney -Clippers -Lakers one word doesn’t fit and the other 2 do perfectly
I just disagree on the word
No Clipper has been out like AD n Bron. They have had extended time. Clippers have been more nagging injuries. And Beverley they don’t need as much with Rondo there. Just seems fans think as soon as they come back. Lakers are fine again. Not true and as Nets are showing this can be a prolonged thing. We are too close to playoffs to not take injuries and gm shape into account.
Ibakas been out forever
Kawahi has been on and off forever, missed 4 of last 5 and now out longer-
George takes off games all year
They just got a new Pg whoes never even been on the court w Ibaka yet
Its funny the Beverly hype for years out here was he was a “dog” and the heart and soul of the Clippers….somebody that would be a weapon come playoffs with his intensity who could rally the troops … ….now scrap metal? ….
But thats really the Clippers in a nutshell, their identity comes and goes with the tides, b/c really, there is none …
Id love to see the series tho as well , Rd 1 sounds as good as any!
For those of you saying the Lakers may slip more in the standings, guarantee you they finish no worse than the 5 seed. Once AD is back, they’ll be winning more games and LeBron will be back a few games before the playoffs begin. Regular season does not matter and this team is good enough to finish strong and in good playoff position seeding with, or without LeBron.
You’re going to guarantee the Lakers will finish 5th place or better? With 14 games left they could easily finish at 41-31, possibly even worse. They’re only two games ahead of Portland for #6. And AD coming back won’t help them much at all since he’ll only be playing 12-15 MPG and won’t be playing both games in B2B’s either. The blind optimism of Lakers fans is really quite sad.
lakers last 14 opponents:
dallas
dallas
orlando
washington
sacramento
toronto
denver
clippers
portland
phoenix
new york
houston
indiana
new orleans
blazers last 14:
memphis
memphis
indiana
memphis
brooklyn
boston
atlanta
cleveland
lakers
san antonio
houston
utah
phoenix
denver
and lakers leads by 3 games, not 2 with the blazers…